UTSA 70, Central Arkansas 58: How the game was won

An absolutely splitting head-ache right now, probably brought on at least partially by the ugliness of Wednesday’s game at the Convocation Center. And because I’m not nearly as tough as Devin Gibson, who returned from an ugly cut over his left eye to lead his team to a critical victory, I’m going to keep this one short and sweet.

The actual details of Wednesday’s games — Gibson’s injury, the poor play, etc. — pale in comparison to the result. Thanks to victories by Southeastern Louisiana and Nicholls (not to mention UTSA’s losses at both, but that’s a subject for another day), the Roadrunners are going to have to win at UT-Arlington to reach the Southland Conference tournament next week in Katy.

The league standings entering the final day of the regular season:

Texas State 10-5, vs. Sam Houston State

McNeese State 10-5, vs. Lamar

Sam Houston State 9-6, at Texas State

SFA 9-6, at Northwestern State

Northwestern State 9-6, vs. SFA

Nicholls 8-7, at Southeastern Louisiana

SE Louisiana 8-7, vs. Nicholls

UTSA 8-7, at UT-Arlington

UT-Arlington 7-8, UTSA

Lamar 7-8, at McNeese State (needs help)

A tough spot to be in, especially considering losses by both Nicholls and Southeastern would have put the Roadrunners in. But in the end, they’ve got nobody to blame but themselves after squandering lead after lead. They did their best to do it again on Wednesday, failing to build on multiple double-digit leads in the second half. But Central Arkansas wasn’t good enough to take advantage, especially not after starting point guard Dewan Clayborn was banished to the locker room for opening the cut over Gibson’s eye.

Neither coach nor Gibson knew what actually happened on the play, in which Clayborn apparently made contact with Gibson after passing off. In fact, Gibson didn’t even know he’d been cut as he got up to confront Clayborn. Gibson said only an apology from Clayborn kept him from doing more than just getting in Clayborn’s face. The three officials, who weren’t fan favorites at the Convo after awarding Central Arkansas with 35 free throws, huddled over a video monitor for more than five minutes before sending Clayborn off.

(Incidentally, given the chance to comment off the record, several UTSA team members blamed their own bad defense rather than the officials.)

Even with the injury, it was a classic Gibson performance in the final home game of his career, with the good (18 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three steals) far out-weighing the bad (seven turnovers).

Backcourt mate Melvin Johnson III led all scorers with 20 points, but the performances of forwards Stephen Franklin and Larry Wilkins were probably even more important. Franklin had 15 points and three 3-pointers, and Wilkins had six points and seven rebounds in only 20 minutes to help offset another poor shooting performance (1 for 11 for three points) from Jeromie Hill.

And so, it somehow seems fitting that the Roadrunners, in a season in which they’ve consistenty made things hard on themselves, must go on the road to earn an invitation to the Southland tournament. As he’s lamented his team’s lack of focus, coach Brooks Thompson has also praised its reslience.